Fractal timing of verbal transforms

Author(s): Ding, M. Z., Kelso, J. A. S.

Journal/Book: Perception. 1997; 26: 207 Brondesbury Park, London, England NW2 5JN. Pion Ltd. 913-928.

Abstract: The paper deals with the timing pattern of perceptual change elicited by multiple repetitions of a syllable (the verbal-transformation effect). We show that the distribution of the dwell time, the time spent perceiving a given phonemic form before switching to another form, obeys a power law with an exponent valued between 1 and 2. This result is robust, occurring for meaningless syllables and for English words of different initial phonemic salience. Experiment 2 demonstrates that subjects are aware of the temporal dynamics of perceptual change. On the basis of these results, it is argued that within this paradigm the notion of a mean dwell time is ill defined and there is apparently no characteristic time scale for perceptual change.

Note: Article Tuller B, Florida Atlantic Univ, Ctr Complex Syst, Program Complex Syst & Brain Sci, Boca Raton,FL 33431 USA

Keyword(s): 1/F NOISE; AMBIGUOUS PATTERNS; PERCEPTION; SPEECH; MODEL; FLUCTUATIONS; DYNAMICS; SYSTEMS; MUSIC; TIME

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